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Leadership candidates meet in Medicine Hat

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Leadership candidates for the Alberta Party have been travelling all over the province, meeting with residents and hearing their biggest concerns with how the government is operating right now.

On Thursday night, the three candidates, Rick Fraser, Kara Levis and Stephen Mandel spoke at the Heartwood Cafe.

“I’m here to talk about how our campaign is looking to put province before politics and really build practical solutions for the future,” said Kara Levis.

Fraser said he’s heard from Albertans over the last few weeks and said they have one thing in common.

“The bottom line is, the decorum is not where it should be and ultimately they’re tried of the divisiveness,” he said.

“People want to see a government that’s really responsive to the challenges that Alberta faces,” Mandel added. “It’s about creating jobs, about bringing back the Alberta advantage and doing things that are going to help the province grow.”

The meet and greet was a chance for the public to meet the candidates face to face before a new leader is selected on February 27th.

The party has caught the attention of Bill Grady, past-president of the PC Party’s constituency association.

“I liked their responses, they seem to be well grounded and I think if they can stay to their focus to what they really want to do for the party, I think we have a very good chance,” he said.

The candidates made the decision easy for Grady, who has bought a membership and joined the party.

“I think if they get the right message out, that economically and socially we are strong conservatives, we will take on the Conservative party,” he added.

“There’s a great opportunity right now to show that politics can be done differently,” Fraser said. “It’s not just about opposing. It should be about delivering a message and delivering ideas and policies that can be better for Albertans.”

“I think that we believe in the role government plays,” Mandel said. “The government shouldn’t own and shouldn’t dominate, shouldn’t control the economy.”

“Right now, provincially, we have a divided province,” Levis added. “We have the UCP on the right and the NDP on the left and really, they’re just shouting at each other.”